Garage Sales..to buy or not to buy?

[RockMyAmadeus]

I think that was his point...

 

Indeed, it was....

[HouseofComics.Com]

Good post from RMA. I would break down the non-superhero 10-centers further, dividing them into humor and non-humor. The $2 apiece for late 50s might be a touch high if humor and you get little iodines and pat the brats and whatever.

[RockMyAmadeus]

Here's a rule of thumb, if you don't know what you're looking at:

 

10 cent "superhero" books from the 1940's, $20

10 cent non-superhero books from the 40's, including Disney, $10

10 cent "superhero" books from the 1950's $7

10 cent non-superhero books from the early 50's, including Disney - $3

10 cent horror/sci-fi/mystery books from the early 50's - $5

10 cent non-superhero from the mid to late 50's - $2

12 cent superhero books from the 1960's - $2

15-25 cents - $1

30-50 cents - 50 cents

60-$1 -25 cents

$1.25-$2.95 - 5-25 cents

 

Now, this is quite obviously low, but for the buyer who knows NOTHING about comics, you almost can't go wrong. Is the casual buyer going to run across Showcase #4 that the seller wants $100 for? Probably not. But they might run across acres of Dells, and paying $2 each won't really hurt anybody for those books.

 

The other thing is this: get to know people who DO know comics, and CALL them on your cell phone if you're standing in front of something you know nothing about. I have offered these services to a lot of friends, and some have even taken me up on it. If there's something I don't know off the top of my head, and I'm near my desk, it is but a few clicks away. And there's not much I don't know about, valuewise. Sure, I can't give you curent market on an Mary Marvel #17 in 9.0 universal....but if you're in front of a copy, and the seller is asking $5, I can tell you to grab it.

 

That's why they invented cell phones!

 

 

That's way too much work.

 

Offer them 50 cents each and see what happens.

 

If they're Marvel/DC from 1991-1993, you'll take a bath.

 

(thumbs u

[RockMyAmadeus]

Good post from RMA. I would break down the non-superhero 10-centers further, dividing them into humor and non-humor. The $2 apiece for late 50s might be a touch high if humor and you get little iodines and pat the brats and whatever.

 

yeah, true, but you also have the wars and westerns in there, too, to balance them out. I also don't know that a non-comics person will know the difference between humor and non-humor...it's not intuitive, like "western" or "romance." To a non-collector, they may think ALL comics are "humor."

 

Everyone should keep in mind, this is for someone who knows nothing about comics, and is designed to keep them from taking a bath in about as foolproof a way as possible. With my "list", a buyer can really only go UP when trying to re-sell.

 

If one tries to spend more than this, one runs a much higher risk of getting hosed. Ever try to sell late 50's/60's Disney books? Great stuff, no doubt...but common as hen's feathers, and only worth money in uber high grades. The buyer MIGHT miss out on some great stuff...but the chance of getting stuck with garbage is farrrr too great otherwise.

 

Remember...junk comics outnumber worthwhile comics by the MILLIONS.

[RockMyAmadeus]

Here's a rule of thumb, if you don't know what you're looking at:

 

10 cent "superhero" books from the 1940's, $20

10 cent non-superhero books from the 40's, including Disney, $10

10 cent "superhero" books from the 1950's $7

10 cent non-superhero books from the early 50's, including Disney - $3

10 cent horror/sci-fi/mystery books from the early 50's - $5

10 cent non-superhero from the mid to late 50's - $2

12 cent superhero books from the 1960's - $2

15-25 cents - $1

30-50 cents - 50 cents

60-$1 -25 cents

$1.25-$2.95 - 5-25 cents

 

Now, this is quite obviously low, but for the buyer who knows NOTHING about comics, you almost can't go wrong. Is the casual buyer going to run across Showcase #4 that the seller wants $100 for? Probably not. But they might run across acres of Dells, and paying $2 each won't really hurt anybody for those books.

 

The other thing is this: get to know people who DO know comics, and CALL them on your cell phone if you're standing in front of something you know nothing about. I have offered these services to a lot of friends, and some have even taken me up on it. If there's something I don't know off the top of my head, and I'm near my desk, it is but a few clicks away. And there's not much I don't know about, valuewise. Sure, I can't give you curent market on an Mary Marvel #17 in 9.0 universal....but if you're in front of a copy, and the seller is asking $5, I can tell you to grab it.

 

That's why they invented cell phones!

 

 

That's way too much work.

 

Offer them 50 cents each and see what happens.

 

If they're Marvel/DC from 1991-1993, you'll take a bath.

 

(thumbs u

 

Heck, if they're "not VF or better" Marvel/DC from 1980-2009, they'll take a bath.

[Templar-migration]

I would add that if they are being sold at a garage sale/yard sale, the seller probably isn't expecting to sell them for much money anyway. I would be surprised if any seller had a stack of comics priced at more then $5-$10. If they thought there was any value at all to them, they would probably have sold them to an antique store, Ebay, or another venue.

[HouseofComics.Com]

I disagree, I think humor is really easy for a non-collector to differentiate.

[RockMyAmadeus]

My family, none of whom knows anything about comics, would look at a comic, think "Sunday Funnies", and not understand when you told them that Green Lantern #23 is NOT a "humor" comic. They think all comics are "humor."

 

They can't be alone.

 

But hey, maybe it is. :shrug:

[HouseofComics.Com]

Well, let's assume the person is at least trying. If they can tell what a superhero comic is, they can also tell that a cover is of the humor genre.

[RockMyAmadeus]

Ehhh...ok. I'll buy that.

[nocutename]

Hi Mary, Looks like the selling bug is biting again.

 

Personally, there are some good reads from the 90's but to flip them it is not worth it. As for purchasing and holding them for readers, so of the content may be too violent for children. I have a problem giving away comics from this period because I don't feel that many are age approriate.

[CatskillMike]

Here's an example of what I found at a garage sale 2 weeks ago. There was a stack of 45 comics, 12 and 15 centers. Pretty beat, average grade 3.0, some 4.0. Half humor, half superhero/war. It didn't seem too interesting when i flipped through the pile. I was going to walk away when the woman asked if I was interested in them. I said probably not, they aren't that collectible. She asked if I traded books with my comic buds like when we were kids. I said maybe, but not those low grade humors. So I walked away again and she said "How about $10 for the pile?" I said for 10 bucks you got a deal(22 cents each). So I cherry picked the pile at home and saved 11 books for myself and dumped the rest on ebay for $21. So I guess it was a win/win situation. At least she didn't have high expectations for her drek.

 

THEN she tells me about her son who has X-men 1, 2 and 3 signed by Stan the Man. Apparently they knew someone in the late 70's who worked for Marvel and sent them in to be signed. I did offer $1000 for the #1 to see if they was any interest, but they weren't for sale, understandably. (Is that a word?)

[iggy]

Word! Cool story!

[maryj0w]

Well i knew I would get a good answer to the question, and I will keep my eyes pealed!

[the blob]

Harby #1 is only worth $$ in the highest grades.

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it's worth more than 50 cents in pretty much any grade

 

 

anyway, it's always worth looking, but unless you can get old stuff that isn't falling apart really cheap, it's just a guessing game if you do not know what you're looking for

 

at a flea market last month a wallowed through about 400 modern drekish comics... but I did uncover the Mad Love Prestige Format issue with the 1st or 2d Harley Quinn (mid grade copy sold for $25), Noble Causes 3b (1st Invincible) - 9,2 copy sold for $17 and a Walking Dead #8 (9.2ish) - sold for $8, so a good return for the $1 each I paid for them.

 

So, $50, minus $3, minus another $7 or so for ebay/paypal...$40..not a bad return for 10 minutes I was killing while my wife got her nails done

 

o.k., I admit I also spent $2 on worthless comics for my son to read

 

yesterday my wife of all people spotted a comic box at a garage sale as we were driving by (I didn't). i jumped out and looked, but it was all drek pretty much, I guess a couple of early issues of Wolverine, but not #1 and the #10 wasn't in great shape. another guy jumped out too and was trying to beat me in the race of flipping through him, but i conceded and told him there wasn't anything in there worth more than a buck and he agreed.

[RockMyAmadeus]

Harby #1 is only worth $$ in the highest grades.

----------------------

 

it's worth more than 50 cents in pretty much any grade

 

You and I know that...but non-comics people won't.

 

And below VF/NM, it's only worth $10-$15 or so.

 

It's a matter of odds. This list is for someone who knows nothing about comics. While they MAY stumble across Harby #1 (not likely), they're far more likely to stumble upon acres of drek. This list is to guarantee they don't take a bath buying stuff that's not worth it.

 

It's like the opposite of those ads in old magazines that say "for certain coins minted before such and so, we'll pay UP TO $XX,XXX." They're not going to pay $XX,XXX unless you have the most valuable coin in that set (and even then that may not be the case ), but at least it gives people an idea, and makes them hunt.

 

anyway, it's always worth looking, but unless you can get old stuff that isn't falling apart really cheap, it's just a guessing game if you do not know what you're looking for

 

Which is why my list is about as foolproof as you can get for the non-comics folks. It's an almost can't lose for them. (thumbs u)

 

For us, we have the advantage of knowledge, so we know if we're offered an Action #13 in VG for $100, we'll snatch it right up. If a non-comics buyer is offered a Mutt & Jeff #13 in VG for $100...well....not so much, eh?

[Not*Sure*]

It is weird that it seems this year a lot of 90's collectors/ investor types are pulling out the long boxes for the yard sales. Unfortunately, yes .50 cents is way too much for some of those types of books. I usually ask people having sales about comics "for my husband". Occasionally, they will pull out some goodies and I put on my "I'm a girl I don't know anything about them how much are you asking" face. I have had people make me some really sweet deals. Of course there is every now and then the disappointment of someone pulling out a '90's copy of Wizard or an old Overstreet and because the comics are in the original plastic packages they are mint.. I HATE those guys!!

I did see someone selling slabbed lower graded comics really cheap at a yard sale. Which made me wonder why they chose to have such crappy comics sent to CGC in the first place. Probably the same logic that made them think buying 200 copies of each Marvel New Universe issue would pay for their kids college.

I do buy cheap kids comics for my grandkids at yard sales for quarters they can color in them if they like and it is no big loss.

 

[the blob]

last yard sale i was selling moderns for $1 and closer to 50 cents if you bought a stack. i was just pricing them for "reading" price. i almost got cleaned out of my 1990s vastly overprinted spideys, anying "X" sold great, some spawns went... and a few others. i was happy because a lot of them went to a kid down the block, although an 80 year old guy who used to run a shop around the corner from me (and who is a fixture at our local comic shows apparently) bought a bunch of them too. he says he has people he still supplies with comics... I dunno if he sells them or gives them away or what. as far as i know i had no "hidden treasures" in there, although I kindah felt like I should have held back the Maximum Carnage books.